Local Look: Daytona

Events: Pepsi 400, Winn-Dixie 250

Local papers covering: Daytona Beach News-Journal, Orlando Sentinel

'The Kid' is ahead of the pace

	Kyle Busch

The deal: Buddy Shacklette of the Daytona Beach News-Journal says after winning four of the last five Busch Series races at Daytona, Chance 2 Motorsports likely will draw the most attention this week.

Still, it's hard to count out Kyle "The Kid" Busch, younger brother of Nextel Cup driver Kurt Busch and the 19-year-old that has taken over where 2003 Busch Series champion Brian Vickers left off.

Why we care: Busch trails series leader Martin Truex Jr. by just 28 points, has led the most laps (648) and has won more money ($714,990) than any other driver in the series this season.

Busch has exceeded even his own expectations, but perhaps the best indicator of his success is when his numbers are compared to those of Vickers at the halfway point last season.

Busch has twice as many top-five finishes (eight), three more top 10 finishes (12) and three wins to Vickers' zero at this point in the season.

For more news on Kyle Busch, click here.

Nearly 30, Dale Earnhardt no longer likes `Junior' or `Kid.'

The deal: Ed Hinton of the Orlando Sentinel says shocking and dismal as the thought may be to the NASCAR nation, Earnhardt is closing fast on age 30. In most lives, this is a bleak countdown, the first sense of aging, of youth lost. But Earnhardt senses he is hurtling down the homestretch toward some blessed relief.

	Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"I look forward to it," he told the paper, as if the next three months can't pass fast enough. "I don't know why, but I feel like it'll take a lot of pressure off of me."

Why we care: And 30, which comes Oct. 10, might well bring another milestone in November. Near the halfway point of his fifth season in the big time, he is a stronger contender than ever to win his first Nextel Cup. Then again, that means there'll be the inevitable extra baggage he already dreads. The comparisons, the questions, the references.

"If and when I win a championship, it'll be . . . I don't know. I should just not even concern myself with it," he says. "Because I am his son, and I knew that coming in here. With my father dead or alive, it wouldn't make any difference."

For more news about Earnhardt, click here.

NASCAR geared to run down souvenir knockoffs

The deal: Ron Hurtibise of the Daytona Beach News-Journal says want racing souvenirs? Around Daytona International Speedway this week, you can buy plenty.

ALSO  •  More from the NASCAR.com Newswire  •  Complete race coverage

Along with quality, licensed merchandise sold through legitimate vendors, you can choose from any number of unauthorized knockoffs: cheap T-shirts with bleeding inks, "tributes" to Dale Earnhardt featuring halos over the late driver's car number, bumper stickers denigrating drivers and any number of items with the word "Daytona" in them.

NASCAR and its race teams use uncommon legal strategies to prevent merchandise pirates from getting your money. Armed with a standing federal court order, enforcement teams that include NASCAR staff members and off-duty police officers patrol race venues looking for illegal merchandise. The order empowers them to seize, on the spot, any merchandise they determine violates their trademarks.

Why we care: Thousands of items have been seized over the past three years from "fly-by-night" vendors who swarm race fans coming to and from events, selling their wares from shoulder-slung duffel bags.

Attorneys for NASCAR say the seizures have put a significant dent in the pirates' operations.

But their strategy has generated complaints from independent vendors who follow the Nextel Cup circuit from city to city, set up in flea market-type atmospheres, and sell race-related goods from tables and trailers. Along with official products obtained by legitimate means, many sell items that aren't licensed goods, but, they claim, aren't illegal copies either.

They may contain generic race motifs, like a car, a checkered flag or a number. Some bear names and dates of venues. Some, NASCAR attorneys say, too closely resemble licensed designs, words or trademarks.

And that's enough to warrant their seizure, the officials say.

For more NASCAR news from around the country, click here.

Lack of title doesn't define Martin's career

The deal: George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel says the question lingers briefly before Mark Martin pounces. A quiet Sunday morning is disrupted by a voice raised in pride and anger.

	Mark Martin

Does not winning a Cup title weigh on him?

"What do you think I am, a 2-year-old sitting on the floor crying, demanding something?" Martin asked the paper. "That's what I think you're asking. I should be sitting on the floor crying like a baby screaming, 'Get me what I want!' I've worked my [butt] off and I got what I got, and it's been damn good. That's what I think.

"When people ask me, 'How bad does it tear you up?', I've worked as hard as I can work. I've done as much as I can do. I've been as committed as I can. I've been very successful. I'm not a baby."

Why we care: Martin has finished second in the Cup series points race four times, putting a Buffalo Bills-type asterisk on an otherwise brilliant career. He has nothing to apologize for, but in a world where second place often gets relegated to the obituary page -- where most recently you will find the ashes of the Los Angeles Lakers -- Martin is missing the piece he needs for mainstream validation.

For more news about Mark Martin, click here.